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By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer
June 14, 2003, 9:55 PM EDT
TAMPA, Fla. -- A national group influential in higher education condemned the
University of South Florida on Saturday for firing a professor charged with
terrorism, but stopped short of issuing a potentially damaging censure.
The American Association of University Professors passed the resolution at a
meeting in Washington, condemning university President Judy Genshaft for firing
Sami Al-Arian without a hearing before his faculty peers, said association spokeswoman
Ruth Flower.
Although the school avoided a censure, association members ordered a committee
to reconsider action that could come when the entire group meets again next
year.
"I think that the intention is ... definitely to keep the case open," Flower
said.
Censure is seen as an embarrassing stigma that can make it harder for a school
to recruit and retain faculty members and obtain some research grants. It also
could have barred the university from forming a Phi Beta Kappa honor society
chapter.
Al-Arian was fired a week after he was arrested in February, charged with being
the North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that
has killed dozens of people in the past decade. He remains in jail and denies
he has any connections to terrorism.
Genshaft said in a statement that USF had found that Al-Arian used his university
position to support terrorism.
"I cannot fathom how the AAUP can look at the same set of facts we looked at
and come to the conclusion to condemn us for terminating Dr. Al-Arian," she
said.
Robert McKee, Al-Arian's civil attorney, said he was pleased with the condemnation.
"We're disappointed they put off the censure vote for another year, but we'll
continue to monitor it and hope for the best," McKee said.
Because of the complexity of the case, Al-Arian is not expected to go to trial
until January 2005.
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